2024 Northern Utah Open “Quick Hits”
October 22, 2024
2024 Northern Utah Open "Quick Hits"
We take a look back at the recently completed Northern Utah Open, as we have for the past 3 years, held the event at scenic and beautiful Ridgeline HS. The “Nest” as they call it, the home of the Riverhawks is one of the top 4-5 HS venues in the Beehive State.
With the vast majority of the players hailing from north of Salt Lake City, in the colder regions of the state, having college recruiting eye balls are hard to come by. With the help of our national data partners, such as Trackman Baseball and Blast Motion, the accompanying videos to drop soon on each player, gives the players in attendance tangible data that they can share with college recruiters. As is customary after each event, we drop a few names that stood out at the event with athletic movement patterns, coupled with the analytics collected, in order to share our thoughts on those individuals that caught our attention…Enjoy!
Maddux Jensen, SS, (Ridgeline HS)
The 2027 uber projectable lean athletic frame has considerable weight and strength gains to come and with added size and maturity, may move off his SS spot down the road. The local product of Ridgeline, comes from one of the decorated baseball families in the state. Father Justin is the head coach at Ridgeline and played at Snow College, while his uncle Jed and Jory both pitched at Utah Valley and Jed later in the professional independent circuit. Yet another uncle Josh pitched a year at Southern Utah for state director Jeff Scholzen after being drafted by the Colorado Rockies out of HS, after being named the Gatorade POTY for Utah. Josh went on to pitch his senior year at BYU. So the bloodlines are thick and father Justin has the physical size and strength that will eventually show up in Maddux in due time.
Maddux is a smooth mover and shows the athletic movement patterns you look for in a young SS, that when the physical size takes over, will most likely slide over to the hot corner. The hands are soft and the actions fluid, with an EZ arm and short arm slot with “flip” carry. The bat is a LD gap to gap now and the swing is flat with extension through finish to drive the ball hard over the SS head and when the body takes off, the gaps should turn into pull HR power. An incoming sophomore, Maddux looks to be a solid contributor come next spring in his first extended varsity level assignment!
The 2025 Salem Hills product has really jumped in the past year and looks to make the next jump in performance after hitting .275 in 59 PA’s as a junior in 2024. With big numbers displayed at the Northern Utah event, the numbers just need to turn into even further on field production. With an EV of 100.7 and line drive shots to the LCF gap with consistency during BP, Ward also put up a max hand speed of 23.6 and an astounding max bat speed of 86.8 with an 80 mph arm across the INF! With size and projectable strength, a JUCO in need of a strong and improving corner bat, should make sure Ward is on their radar!
Dylan Adams, C, (Stansbury HS)
The Young 2028, who oozes physical projection from a lean skinny typical 14 year old build, that should only jump in size and strength with physical maturity. Adams posted a 1.95-2.10 pop time during the workout and showed a LD fluid bat with jumps in metrics and strength to drive the baseball as he grows and hits the gym. The feet behind the plate are quick for his age and he gets the ball out of the glove fast to get the ball underway to 2B and one can only surmise, that he keeps the running game in check at his current level of development.
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SCOUTING DIRECTOR (BIO)
Scholzen comes to Prep Baseball after serving 9 years as the "Four Corners" Scouting Supervisor with the Milwaukee Brewers (2011-2020). Prior to his run with the Brewers, Scholzen worked for the Los Angeles Angels for 11 years (1999-2010), serving in the same capacity as the "Four Corners" Scouting Supervisor (UT, WY, So-ID, Las Vegas, AZ, CO, NM and El Paso). Scholzen received a 2002 World Series ring for his contributions as a scout with the Angels.
With the Angels, Scholzen created an Angels Scout Team, in which he coached the following MLB players: Kris Bryant, Kevin Gausman, Greg Bird, Tyler Wagner, Aaron Blair, Joey Rickard, Donn Roach, Johnny Field, Taylor Cole, Andy Burns and Paul Sewald to name a few.
During his run with the the Angels, Scholzen also served as the hitting coach for the Angels rookie ball affiliate in the Pioneer League, the Orem Owlz, helping guide the Owlz to the 2005 and 2007 Pioneer League titles, which earned Jeff two more championship rings.
In Scholzen's 20 year scouting career, he was credited with the signing of 6 MLB players starting with:
Brandon Wood, SS, Angels 2003, 1st Rd ~ Efren Navarro, 1B, Angels 2007, 50th Rd ~ Donn Roach, RHP, Angels 2010, 3rd Rd ~ Tyler Wagner, RHP, Brewers 2012, 4th Rd ~ Payton Henry, C, Brewers 2016, 6th Rd ~ Ryan Aguilar, 1B/OF - Brewers 2017, 31st Rd ~ Scholzen also had an additional 3 players added to various clubs 40 man MLB rosters over the years.
2019 (14th Rd) draft pick, RHP-Paxton Schultz from Utah Valley U, is currently in AAA (Buffalo Bisons) with the Toronto Blue Jays, and former 40 man Brewers rostered RHP (Utah Tech) just recently returned from Korea and signed with the NL Champion Arizona Diamondbacks and is in AAA with the Reno Aces.
Prior to becoming a professional scout, Scholzen served as the head coach at Southern Utah University between 1993-1997. At the time, Scholzen was the youngest Division I head coach in the country, when he was first hired at 24 years old. The Southern Utah baseball program was dropped after the 2012 season. While coaching at Southern Utah, Scholzen served as the hitting coach for the Alaska Goldpanners in 1995, as they won the Alaska League Championship. Scholzen also recruited and coached World Series RHP-Ryan Jensen of the San Francisco Giants, who would earn a top 5 finish for NL Rookie of the Year in 2022. Scholzen and Jensen had the unique opportunity, to be on opposing sides of the ledger, when Scholzen's Angels and Jensen's Giants squared off in the 2002 MLB Fall Classic.
Scholzen also had the pleasure of coaching Jensen's roommate and back up catcher, Kyle Turner who has worked in professional/major league baseball for 24 years. Kyle currently is in his 14th season with the big league Kansas City Royals and serves as the clubs Head Athletic Trainer. Turner was instramental, while a young player for Scholzen at Southern Utah, in introducing Scholzen to his first wife, the late Heidi Dalton Scholzen, who passed away in December of 2014. A native of Utah, Scholzen played at Hurricane HS and was twice named 1st team All-State and an AAU HM All-American, before moving on to Utah Valley CC and Eastern Oregon University, earning All-Conference honors on three separate occasions. Scholzen played in the Angels’ organization in 1991.
Scholzen was married to his late wife Heidi for 20 years and their union produced four children - McKyla 27, Miranda 24, McKenzie 22 and the couples only son, Grant Scholzen 19, who is a freshman 2B at D1 WCC school, the U of the Pacific (Pacific Tigers) on scholarship. After Heidi's passing in 2014, Scholzen married Cami Macias Scholzen, a widow herself and the same age as Heidi and the couple now have been married 8 years. Between both families, Jeff has 3 grandchildren and 5 step grandchildren (8 total) and the Scholzen's reside in Hurricane, UT in the bottom left SW corner of the state near the most iconic and scenic national parks in the country.